


Nick Burkhardt or Neal Caffrey?

by Grae_Wolf



Category: Grimm (TV), White Collar
Genre: Nick Burkhardt is Neal Caffrey, Post-Finale, for both shows
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-16
Updated: 2020-02-16
Packaged: 2021-02-28 04:40:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 2,950
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22757938
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Grae_Wolf/pseuds/Grae_Wolf
Summary: 5 + 1 of Nick revealing that he is actually Neal to his chosen family. Each of the 5 sections consists of Nick revealing one of Neal's talents to someone(s) and cumulate into Nick revealing the whole truth.
Relationships: Elizabeth Burke/Peter Burke, Nick Burkhardt & Hank Griffin, Nick Burkhardt & Monroe, Nick Burkhardt/Adalind Schade, Peter Burke & Neal Caffrey, Rosalee Calvert/Monroe
Comments: 1
Kudos: 68





	1. Monroe (Painting Forgeries)

**Author's Note:**

> This popped into my head and wouldn't go away until I wrote it down. Thank you for reading. I hope you enjoy it!

**Monroe = Nick’s Home = Forgery (Painting)**

He was painting… something which explained why he didn’t answer his front door when Monroe knocked. Monroe made his way to an angle where he could see what, exactly, Nick was painting.

 _Was that a Degas?_ Regardless of whether or not it was, it was exquisite, you couldn’t even tell that it was a forgery.

Monroe paused, _What is Nick, the cop/Grimm, the law-abiding, law upholding guy doing painting a forgery?_ And a deeper, darker thought took hold, _how is he so good at it?_ Monroe jumped as Nick turned and startled him out of his thoughts. 

“Hey Monroe,” Nick said cheerily, “what’s up?”

“Is that a Degas? A forgery of a Degas?” Monroe questioned, shocked. 

Nick hesitated. Nick never hesitated, “I had a crazy life before finding out I was a Grimm, before Portland.” Monroe got the impression that there was more to that story but also that no matter what it was, Nick was finished talking about it. 

“Anyway,” Nick started, “what’s up?”

“Oh, right,” Monroe thought back to what he needed, “Rosalee needs some help at the shop.”

“Okay then, let’s get going,” Nick turned to collect his things and store the art supplies when Monroe caught something in the corner of the painting. _Were those initials?_ Why did the initials, or whatever they were, say N.C.? Especially when Nick’s last name was Burkhardt and the original painting was done by Edgar Degas. 


	2. Rosalee, Hank, and Wu (ID Forgeries)

** Hank, Rosalee, Wu = Spice Shop/Crime Scene = Forgery (ID/Papers) **

There had been another break-in at the shop. One that had apparently culminated into a dead body being left behind her counter and seemingly nothing stolen. Nick and Hank came in after Wu briefed them at the door and began their investigation. The victim had a bag with him, which they searched through first. There looked to be some official form of documentation inside of the bag along with an ID and passport. 

“He was probably running,” Nick muttered under his breath, just loud enough for Hank and Rosalee to hear. 

“But from what?” Hank asked aloud. Nick shrugged and paused, looking at the ID. 

“Rosalee, could you bring me a glass of water? I need to see something.” Rosalee nodded and brought it to him. Wu approached the group when he noticed Rosalee leave and come back. He stood next to her and looked over Nick’s shoulder at what he was doing. Nick checked to be sure that the ID had been photographed and documented before he placed it into the water. The ink began to wash off once it was wet and as Nick swiped his finger across it. Nick smirked, “It’s fake,” he declared, “probably the passport too.”

He looked up as the silence stretched on. “What?” Nick questioned as he noticed Hank, Wu, and Rosalee staring at him. 

“How did you know to do that?” Rosalee asked. 

“The ink wasn’t completely dry.”

“How did you know it wasn’t dry?” Wu questioned. 

“And how did you know that method? I’ve never heard of it before,” Hank continued. 

Nick shrugged, “Hypothetically,” he began, “I’ve created fake IDs before and therefore allegedly know what to look for in a false ID.” Hank, Rosalee, and Wu continue to stare at him in shock. They couldn’t place it in their minds that Nick could have ever done anything illegal but they nodded and resolved to talk about it later. 


	3. Adalind (Lock Picking)

**Adalind = Home = Lock Picking**

Adeline moved into the room and noticed that Kelly and Diana were nowhere to be seen. They had just been in the living room! She had turned her back for five seconds. Needless to say, Adeline began to hyperventilate and frantically searched for her children. After a few minutes of searching, they were still nowhere to be seen, but Nick walked in and noticed her distress.

“What is it?” He questioned as he attempted to calm her down. She eventually stuttered out an explanation and Nick began to look around. After a thorough search of their home, Nick got a thoughtful look before making his way to the large room at the back of their home with the safe door, the safe room. He attempted to open the unlocked door only to find it locked. He smiled at Adaline, who was now freaking out more now that she knew her children were trapped in a giant safe that only opened from the inside with no way out. She and Eve had worked on the door to strengthen it to the point that no Hexenbiest could open it. She looked at Nick and was confused by his lack of anxiety over their children’s safety. He told her to wait there while he went to get something. When he came back with a duffle bag full of safe-cracking equipment her protests and fear began to ebb slightly while her confusion grew. He shook his head at her before she could ask him anything and her confusion turned to awe as he got the supposedly impregnable safe open in under five minutes. 

He must’ve noticed the questions tearing through her head at that moment since he answered, “I may have presumably done things like this before,” and that was that as the rest of her questions left her mind and her children took over as she knelt and cradled them to her chest. 


	4. Eve (Pickpocketing and Conning)

** Eve = Bar = Conning/Pickpocketing  **

Eve wasn’t getting anywhere with this guy, even with her powers. She’d tried everything she could think of and still, nothing came of it. She was about to leave when she spotted Nick walking in. He shook his head at her when she began to move towards him. Instead, he came to her and the guy. Eve understood the look Nick gave her was to warn her not to get involved and even though she didn’t understand, she listened. Nick went over to the guy and his entire being shifted. 

“Hey,” he said, “I’m Neil O’Connor. You look like you need to relax, who about a game of pool?” Eve froze,  _ Why was Nick using a fake name? And why did he seem so comfortable doing so? _ An hour later and the guy still gave up no useful info but Nick’s game was over and the guy left. Eve moved to stop him but Nick halted her. He motioned her to follow him outside and once there showed her a phone and business card. 

She gave Nick a confused glance so e explained, “I pickpocketed him. This is a copy of the guy’s phone sim card and a business card he had in his pocket.”    
“How…?” Eve trailed off. She couldn’t even complete the thought.  _ How do you know how to pickpocket? How did you use a fake name so comfortably? _

Nick shrugged, “It may have hypothetically been my job to go undercover and take things from people.” Eve knew there was more but dropped it when she realized that: 1) Nick was done talking about it and 2) that it didn’t really matter. 


	5. Peter (Alive)

**Peter = Case = Alive**

“FBI,” Peter stated, flashing his badge. “I’m here about the body found in The Exotic Spice and Tea Shop. The report stated that he possessed false identification and the alias caused a red flag in our system. May I speak to the lead detective to go over a few things?” 

Sargent Wu, as his badge read, nodded, “That would be detectives Griffin and Burkhardt. Their desks are this way but I don’t know if either of them is in right now. If not I can give you their cell numbers.” 

“That would be wonderful, thank you,” Peter responded, slightly confused as to why a detective with an active case would be out of office, though he quickly corrected himself. Sargent Wu said they may not be in. They were probably running a lead. Wu led him through the bullpen towards a set of empty desks. 

Wu sighed, “guess they’re not here. Let me go grab some of their cards for you.” However, before Wu could do so he spotted a tall dark-haired man in the captain’s office. “Oh,” Wu said, “There’s Burkhardt,” he nodded his head towards the office. “He’ll be out in a few moments. He’s probably just updating Captain Renard. You can sit here,” he pointed to the chair next to the desks, “ and I’ll grab Burkhardt once he’s out of Renard’s office.” Peter nodded and sat in the chair. It was a few moments before Burkhardt began to make his way out of the office and in that time Peter was thinking about Neal. How much Neal would’ve laughed at a case where apparently he and ‘Detective Burkhardt’ would be working together. When Burkhardt began to make his way out of the office, Peter could’ve sworn that it was Neal, but he quickly banished that thought. _Neal was dead_. He stood and almost collapsed back into the chair once Wu and Burkhardt were close enough that he could study them. 

“Neal…” Peter hated how weak he sounded, how hopeful. He was about to create some Neal Caffrey level excuse because it _couldn’t be Neal. Neal was dead._ But Burkhardt froze when Peter said that. 

He looked up from having his head slightly bent while speaking with Wu and said, in a breathy, shocked voice, “Peter…” and Peter knew then that this was _Neal._ Not some trick his mind was playing on him, so he rushed at Neal and pulled him into a bone-crushing hug.


	6. Everyone (The Truth)

** Everyone = Home = Truth **

Nick had called us all together at his home to “explain everything.” Everyone except Wu and Nick was already here and just waiting. A few moments later, the door opened to reveal Nick, Wu, and an unknown man in a suit. Once everyone was settled Nick decided to make a quick introduction, “Peter,” he motioned to the man in the suit and pointed at each of us as he said out names, “this is Monroe, a good friend, and his wife Rosalee.” Rosalee and I nodded and smiled at Peter as Nick continued, “This is my partner Hank Griffin and out coworker and friend Drew Wu.” They each nodded and smiled as well but Wu’s seemed strained. “And this is my ex-girlfriend and current friend Eve, along with my fiance Adalind.” the girls both smiled at Peter as well. Adalind looked like she was going to mention to the kids but Nick shook his head at her. “Everyone, this is Peter, I knew him in another life.” 

“So,” Nick started, “does everyone remember when I told each of you that I how I knew to do some things that I had allegedly done them before?” Everyone nodded in agreement. “Well, I’ll explain the whole story later but before that, each of you gets one question that I will answer with complete honesty,” he turned to Peter when he spoke the next portion, “no lies. I’ve told you before that I would never lie to you and I never have. I’ve let you draw your own conclusions by twisting my words but none of that. You will get crystal clear answers to your questions, okay?”

Wu asked, “why only one question?” before anyone could do anything else. 

Nick smiled before stating, “well you’re out now, but it’s one question so that I can hopefully get most of the big things out of the way and set a foundation before telling the whole story.” 

Peter stood up and took a badge off of his belt before setting it down on the table, “you know the deal, Neal. I don’t care if this story involves crimes I don’t know about. Until I get all of my answers you get full immunity.” All of us traded glances, _crimes? The usual deal? Neal? Who is this guy?_

Monroe decided to use his question to get an answer to that one, “Nick, who is this guy?”

“This is FBI agent Peter Burke,” Nick started. “As I said earlier, I knew him in a different life. He was my best friend, the only one who saw good in me. Even when he didn’t trust me, he knew that I could be good. As his wife, Elizabeth used to say I had a habit of doing the wrong things for the right reasons. And Peter, our deal doesn’t really hold up anymore. I violated one of the stipulations, multiple times now.” 

Peter froze, he sagged under his weight, “Who?” 

Nick had an awkward look on his face, like he wanted to be anywhere but here at that moment, “A few. The first was trying to kill me and my aunt so I shot him. The second had kidnapped a little girl, so I ended up shooting him too. Then there were a whole lot of others who attached me or other people so I killed them all too.” 

Peter nodded, “Neal, that’s different. The stipulation was put in te be sure that you didn’t do any illegal killing. Like when I first made the deal with you about this, the night you told me about Adler, I needed to be sure that the crimes I didn’t know about wouldn’t change the man I knew.” 

An awkward silence stretched before Rosalee asked her question, “Why does he call you Neal?”

Nick paused to collect his thoughts, “In another life, I went by the identity of Neal Caffrey, conman and forger. After being caught and put in prison for four years, I made a work-release deal with the agent that caught me, Peter. We worked together for years before we took down an organization called the Pink Panthers, who were known to go after anyone who crossed them. I couldn’t let anything happen to Peter’s new family so I made it seem like I had been killed by an old enemy of mine and disappeared to Paris for about a year. I eventually made my way here and set up a life.” 

“Paris,” Peter muttered, “Of course you went to Paris. Wait, the Lourve was robbed roughly two months after your death, did you rob the Lourve?” Nick did not answer but from his body language and the look on his face everyone could tell that the answer to that question was ‘yes.’

“Wait,” Rosalee decided to use her question, “Why did you settle in Portland?” 

Nick shrugged, “I’m gonna say that it’s because I’d never been here and thought I could start over on the opposite coast of all of my problems but in actuality, it probably had something to with all of the substantial private collectors in this area.” 

Eve was next to ask a question, “What’s your real name?”   
Nick thought for a moment and shrugged again, “I’m not sure what it is. I was born Neal Bennet, but I was placed in WITSEC when I was three and went by the name Danny Brooks until I was 18 and then changed it to Neal Caffrey, but he’s dead and I became Nick Burkhardt, so I don’t know.”

Adalind whispered in a broken tone, “Why didn’t you tell me? I’ve told you about all of my mistakes so why didn’t you tell me about yours?” 

Nick’s face fell, “I’m sorry. I really am, but I didn’t want to burden you, endanger you or the kids,” Peter’s head snapped up. “I’ll explain in a minute,” Nick addressed him, “But it’s also because Neal was dead, and he needed to stay that way for everyone’s safety. Also, lying’s kind of second nature to me. Peter’s said it before, the one thing he can always trust about me, no matter what, I’ll always lie. It’s usually for the right reasons but I always will. I’m so sorry Adalind, but I just couldn’t tell you. Not without putting you in danger. Now Peter,” Nick turned to face him, “yes she did say ‘kids.’ Her daughter with Renard, Diana and her son with me, Kelly, named after my mother.” 

“Speaking of your mother,” Hank began, “How does your ‘family problem’ fit into all of this?” 

“Well, my mother didn’t check out after James,” Nick addressed Peter, “she disappeared. I went to my aunt, Marie. You, however, knew her as Ellen. She apparently wasn’t dead after you ran her name. She had the same condition I do,” Nick took a deep breath, “I’m a Grimm. It means that I hunt, no offense to any of you but I need to put it into simple terms, monsters. They hide among humans, and some of them are friendly, like Monroe and Rosalee, but others still follow their baser instincts and hurt people. Those are the ones I kill. Monroe,” he addressed the Blutbad, “would you please show Peter?” Monroe nodded and woged. 

Peter jumped back and asked, “you can see that all the time?” 

Nick shook his head, “All Wesen have two woges, one that everyone can see and one that only Wesen and Grimms can see. Are you okay?” 

Peter just nodded, “I’ll have some trouble sleeping for a bit, worrying about El and Neal, but I’ll be okay,” Peter paused and went back over what he said before smiling, “Oh, yeah, you should probably know, you have a nephew that you need to meet. We did name him after you for a reason, one that did not include you not being there to teach him things.” Peter gave Nick a pointed look. 

Nick just smiled and laughed, “Okay, okay, hint taken. Anyway, I promised you all a full story so let’s get to that. Before we start, most of this has neither been confirmed nor denied, so we’re going to stick to the hypotheticals, alleged, and presumed.”


End file.
